High-flying junior WR Nelson Agholor (15) led the team with 216 receiving yards. (Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy)

All day Agholor. That’s what USC Athletics dubbed the Trojans’ star receiver and it stuck. And on a night when legend Marqise Lee was in the Coliseum, No. 15 managed to steal the spotlight away from the Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver. 

Agholor became the first receiver in USC history to record back-to-back 200-yard games, something the likes of Lee, Robert Woods and Keyshawn Johnson never accomplished. 

The junior wide receiver’s unbelievable first half (13 receptions, 177 yards, two touchdowns) had fans wondering if he might eclipse Lee’s record setting day game against Arizona in 2012 in which Lee racked up 345 receiving yards on 16 receptions. Agholor tied Lee for receptions, finishing one short of the USC record, with 216 yards.

Agholor remained humble after the game, citing a dropped pass on third down and crediting his team and the coaching staff.

“It just means I have a great offensive coordinator, head coach and quarterback who believe in me and give me opportunities,” said Agholor. “[Lee, Woods, Johnson] were capable of the same thing, I was just given the opportunity.”

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USC head coach Steve Sarkisian praised Agholor’s performance and credited it to his strong work ethic in and out of practice. 

“I am a big believer that if you practice hard, the results show up on gameday,” said Sarkisian. “This guy practices his tail off… Work ethic pays off, hard work pays off.” 

Quarterback Cody Kessler continued to showcase why he is the fourth most efficient passer in the country, going 31 for 42 for 371 yards and four touchdowns. The 31 completions tied a career high against Boston College, while the game also marked the first time Kessler has thrown back-to-back 300-yard games in the same season. 

Late game leads:

The Trojans led 31-2 with a minute and a half to play in the first half. A last second touchdown by the Golden Bears only closed the score to 31-9, but it gave an eery feeling that the game might not be as over as was believed. 

Sure enough USC’s offense went stagnant in the third quarter and two Cal touchdowns in the last six and a half minutes closed the gap to a one possession game.

Sarkisian was questioned after the game about the team’s attitude in the second half of games in which they are leading, but the head coach said he never felt like his team let down.

“Cal is a good football team and we knew it all along, that their offense would start clicking,” said Sarkisian. “We need to find a way to play with confidence late in games. I don’t think our guys thought the game was in the bag… [But] we have the ability to play better than that and we will work on it.”

Penalties: 

It wouldn’t be a Pac-12 football game without an abundance of penalties, and Thursday night’s contest did not disappoint. The Trojans were flagged a season-high 14 times for 159 yards, including one penalty that called back a monster 78-yard touchdown run by Agholor. 

George Farmer, who was flagged for holding on that play, was apologetic about wiping out his teammate’s run, but said they’ve drilled in practice to get over the mental mistakes and stay focuses ahead.

“Coach stresses to us, ‘Next play, next play,’ don’t try to dwell on the play that just happened,” said Farmer. “That’s where a lot of people go wrong, because they sit too hard on that play.” 

When asked to comment on the onslaught of flags against his team Sark simply said he would “refrain from getting a fine.”

Cal also partook in the Pac-12 fun, adding 11 penalties for 117 yards. 

2-0 in November: 

Sarkisian made it clear that despite the close final score, a win is a win and the team is moving forward toward its goal of 4-0 in the month of November. 

“It was a good win to get. 2-0 in November. The goal is to be 4-0 in November, and we are on track to do that still,” said an enthused Sarkisian.

On back-to-back rivalry games to close out the season with UCLA and Notre Dame, Sarkisian stuck with his mantra and said the team is focused on the game ahead. 

“The goal is to get to 4-0. We’ve got 2-0 and UCLA is the next game. We can’t get to 4-0 until we get to 3-0.”

Attendance ‘AnoMileys’:

With an announced attendance of only 64,615, the Trojans filled the Coliseum to only 69-percent of its capacity on its Parents Weekend game. However, USC didn’t disappoint when it came to its Hollywood star power with celebrities Miley Cyrus, Adam Sandler and Bobby Flay in attendance. 

The Trojans should expect a full house for their final home game, hosting archrival Notre Dame on November 29. 

You can reach senior sports editor Matthew Tufts here or follow him on Twitter.